Shoo Wee!
Holy ferret musk, Batman! My boys and I waltzed into Petco, and a blast of STINKY air immediately greeted us! The combination of ferrets, parakeets, dogs, cats and random rodents about knocked this chica out! The Petco smell was a warning: your life is fixin’ to get messy up in here!! But I couldn’t deny the excitement of getting a new pet 🙂
Learning and Growing
My little Dylan, age 8, had been saving up for eons to buy a leopard gecko and all the folderol that a leopard gecko needs. OK, I actually let him buy 2, it was a buy one get one free deal! Now, I really feel I deserve major mommy credit, because the thought of feeding these reptiles live mealworms and crickets totally makes me gag…and thinking about scaley little legs pitter pattying across my kitchen floor gives me the heebie jeebies!! But the plan is simple: the survival of these geckos is totally up to Dylan. I’m sorry, but if they kick the bucket, that’s his deal. A great opportunity to learn responsibility, right?
So far, Dylan is doing a fantastic job! Last night in the middle of watching a movie, he jumped up and ran upstairs because he had forgotten to turn the infrared heat lamp on for the geckos. (I’m really trying to refrain from rolling my eyes at these geckos and their maintenance)! I’ve always been amazed at how my kids rise to the occasion when they have to. In teaching my son responsibility, I’m pretty sure I’ve learned the bigger lesson: stick to the plan and let my child TRULY LEARN RESPONSIBILITY without Mama coming in and taking over! Oh mylanta, that subject alone is worth a whole nother blog post, friends!!
Schooled By Geckos
But there is something bigger that I have learned from these critters. “Some species of geckos have an interesting defense mechanism where they will drop their tail if they feel threatened or if their tail is grabbed by a predator. The dropped tail will actually wiggle and twitch on the ground as though it were still attached to the body of the gecko. This tail loss and movement distracts the predator and allows the gecko to get away while the predator is left with just a tail.” (By Lianne McLeod, DVM, Exotic Pets Expert).
Hmmmm. I can identify with this! When my enemy attacks me, he definitely does some damage…maybe even steals a piece of me…but in the end he is left with just the tail! I not only escape, but God and I have the last laugh in the end! The devil thought he had me for sure, as that “tail” flails for a bit, but what can he really do? He can never have me…I belong to God!
Please Read Romans Chapter 8! https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHLA_enUS552US553&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=bible+gateway+Romans+chapter+8
Sure I lost “my tail” but I’m gonna survive, and not only that, God restores what was lost with something stronger and better!
I don’t know what you are going through right now, but I do know that what the enemy means for our harm, the Lord will use for our good! Seriously think about how amazing it is that the gecko has the ability to leave that tail behind and grow a brand-new tail, better and stronger, escaping the enemy!
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”— Genesis 50:20 NIV
Like The Gecko
Could it be that what is going on in your life right now, is going to help many people…even eventually lead them to Christ and save their lives? The bottom line is that in the hands of God, Satan’s intended evil will turn out for your eventual good! It is difficult to understand why we suffer loss and attack, but just like the gecko, we can move on and let God heal us. And slowly but surely he makes us whole again. Even though we will forever be different than we were before, we’ll actually be better, stronger, more full of faith in our awesome God, and able to help people more effectively! Only God can design a gecko to lose his tail and grow a new one…no human can do that for the gecko. And in the same way, God takes our broken-ness and creates something new, beautiful…even miraculous…in us! To God be the glory, forever AMEN!